Ray Lewis Taps Out of DWTS with an Injury

Source – Another contestant on Dancing With the Stars has been forced out of the competition due to injury.

Tom Bergeron announced during Monday’s telecast that an old foot injury had resurfaced and made it impossible for former NFL player Ray Lewis to continue on the show. A decision was apparently made late Saturday, though Lewis hadn’t rehearsed with his partner, Cheryl Burke, since the middle of last week. …

Lewis was preceded by out the door by Christie Brinkley, who injured her arm and wrist during a rehearsal before the show’s premiere. She was replaced by her daughter Sailor.

This is a crushing disappointment for hardcore Ray Lewis fans like me. I was hoping to see him holding up the Mirror Ball Trophy at the end of all this. To see him dance his way into our hearts the way he linebacked, motivated, and avoided prosecution his way there so many years ago.

But as Christie Brinkley learned the hard way as well, “Dancing with the Stars” is about more than about grace and poise and extension remembering your steps. It’s a test of your mental and physical toughness. It’s about will. Fighting through pain. Mind over matter. DWTS will grind you down to nothing and not ask for forgiveness.

So I feel bad for all the dances we’ll miss from Ray. From the Cha-Cha to the Can-Can. The Viennese Waltz to the Mexican Flamenco. The Rumba to the Salsa. I wanted to see him break out the Paso Doble like he broke up passes. But sadly, his body just couldn’t bear up under the strain. And we as a nation are poorer for it.

Hopefully though, he’ll work through this toe thing and come back stronger than ever next season. As far as I know, Tom Bergeron doesn’t test for Deer Antler Spray, so that’s one option. Another is he can have Jacoby Jones put his hands on his chest so that God’s magic superpowers will be absorbed into him, the way he did for Jones back in Super Bowl XLVII.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Come back soon, Ray.